The coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 pandemic is likely to drive a range of security threats in sub-Saharan Africa due to government restrictions, food shortages and inflation.

The practical and political considerations of COVID-19 are forcing investors to adapt their normal behaviours in the short-term and to re-evaluate their longer-term strategies. We consider some challenges that investors in Africa are facing, and some of the steps to address them.

Vincent Rouget, our lead on West and Central Africa, and Clare Morton, an associate director in our business intelligence focused on Africa, discuss the effect that the uncertainty created by COVID-19 is having on investors and lenders in Africa, both in the short term and the longer term.

Barnaby Fletcher, Control Risks’ lead analyst for Southern Africa, and Bukola Bolarinwa, one of our Africa analysts, discuss the perils of disinformation in Africa, how it spreads and what governments are doing to combat it. This is the second in a regular series of podcasts exploring the impact of COVID-19 on this dynamic, but vulnerable, region.

As sub-Saharan Africa continues to see COVID-19 cases rise the region’s governments struggle with the economic impact, which will likely prompt a sharp rise in sovereign risks and shifts in government policies. But despite what will likely be a slow and uncertain recovery, there will be opportunities for investors.